1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed, generally, to a method for controlling telecommunication services in a telecommunication network and, more specifically, a method for controlling such telecommunication services wherein both the service switching points and the telecommunication services that a service control point administers are allocated to specific network operators.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Given telecommunication services, which also are often called multi-value services, what are involved are services offered in addition to mere data transmission; for example, different types of call rerouting or call forwarding, charge models such as payment by credit card, charge transfer, premium call or VPN (virtual private network).
A technology is, accordingly, employed that is described in the series of standards Q.1200 ff of the ITUxe2x80x94what is referred to as the intelligent network IN. See Q.1211, ITU-T, General Recommendations on Telephone Switching and Signaling, Intellegent Network, Introduction to Intelligent Network Capability Set 1, March 1993.
What is thereby involved is an architecture that can be placed over an existing fixed network or a mobile radio telephone network.
A typical IN architecture contains the following components:
Service Switching Point, SSP
Service Control Point, SCP
Service Management System, SMS
Service Creation Environment, SCE.
The SSP or service switching point forms both a part of the switching node and the interface to the SCP-based IN call control. It recognizes when additional IN functionalities are required and calls the SCP as needed via a signaling network that usually employs a specific protocol (INAP, IN Application Protocol) on the common channel signaling system No. 7.
The SCP is a central processing unit that contains what are referred to as the service logics for telecommunication services and features. After reception of an inquiry of an SSP (see above), the SCP determines the requested service and directs the call to the suitable application. The call is processed and the SSP is informed about the next steps to be implemented; for example, setup a connection to a specific number, abort the connection or effect charging.
The SMS offers support for the application programs of the SCP; for example, the establishment of new telecommunication services, the log on and log off of subscribers and many others. The SMS cooperates closely with the other components of the IN.
The SCE is available for designing new telecommunication services. Its most important job is to make tools available for fast design and testing of new services and features. A library of building blocks is available for this purpose (what are referred to as service independent building blocks, SIB).
Up until now, each telecommunication network operator had his own IN system that he utilized in his own network. Due to increasing fragmentation of the telecommunication market, however, more and more small vendors have been recently arising; for example, what are referred to as xe2x80x9ccity carriersxe2x80x9d in large cities. For these, too, the telecommunication services are an important factor in order to offer added value to the users.
However, the barrier is very high for these small operators since the classic IN components are expensive to acquire and operate. Moreover, highly qualified personnel must be available for operations.
One solution for avoiding this is to divide the IN resources; i.e., essentially SCP, SMS and SCE, what is referred to as xe2x80x9cshared INxe2x80x9d. This makes it technologically possible to make resources of a single IN system available to a plurality of network operators.
An object of the present invention, therefore, is to make exactly those telecommunication services of one""s own network operator available to each customer of a network operator in a shared IN system.
Pursuant to the present invention, therefore, an additional check is implemented by the SCP before a service call is further-processed.
It is thereby taken into consideration that both the telecommunication services that a service control point (SCP) administers as well as the service switching points (SSP) are respectively allocated to specific network operators. A subscriber that employs the telecommunication network of an operator also should be able to access only the telecommunication services of this network operator.
When the called service belongs to the same network operator as the service switching point from which this service call came, the processing by the SCP is implemented in the same way as previously. When, however, this is not the case, then the service call is not implemented.
As a result of the inventive check, the shared IN system becomes more dependable against disturbances and incorrect operations by the network operators who are not as technically trained in this field. It is also assured that the charging of the telecommunication services (with what are referred to as AMA tickets, automatic message accounting) can be correctly implemented.
There are a number of possibilities of how the control point can identify the affiliation of the service switching points to a network operator. First, an operator identifier can be co-supplied with every service call as an additional parameter, wherein it is supplied by the service switching point. The control point, however, can store this information for instance, in the form of lists in which service operators belonging to the service switching point are allocated.
It is necessary in some telecommunication services for an initialization message to be previously sent to the service switching point. This is true, for example, of what is referred to as xe2x80x9ctelevotingxe2x80x9d; i.e., the mere counting of the connection setup attempts to a number. In a conventional IN system, the initialization message (activate service filtering) is sent to all service switching points in the telecommunication network. In a shared IN system, it is then advantageous when only those service switching points that belong to the network operator offering the service receive this initialization message. The control point seeks the service switching points allocated to the network operator from a stored list in accordance with the present invention and sends the initialization message to precisely only these points.
A further possibility of employment is what is referred to as xe2x80x9ccall gappingxe2x80x9d, which is a service that makes it possible to determine the number of service calls to be sent through by the service switching point. This is often employed in order to reduce a high load of, for example, the control point SCP. The calculations, which are thereby centrally performed, however, likewise must be implemented operator-specific in a shared IN system. Further, the initialization message (CALLGAP, Q.1214) here is likewise only sent to the service switching points of the appertaining network operators. See Q.1214 Intelligent Network, Distributed Functional Plane for Intelligent Network CS-1, October 1995.